Council Policy Manual: N. Public Interest

The APA Policy Manual is a collection of policy actions taken by the APA Council of Representatives. This edition includes action taken after 1960 through February 2001. Some policies adopted subsequent to February 2001 may not be reflected. The texts included in the Manual are the texts of the actual motions passed by Council.

VIII. DEATH PENALTY

2. February 2006

The American Psychological Association urges jurisdictions that impose capital punishment not to execute certain persons with mental disabilities under the following circumstances:

1. Persistent Mental Disability: Defendants should not be executed or sentenced to death if, at the time of the offense, they had significant limitations in both their intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior, as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills, resulting from mental retardation, dementia, or a traumatic brain injury.

2. Mental Disorder or Disability at the Time of the Offense: Defendants should not be executed or sentenced to death if, at the time of the offense, they had a severe mental disorder or disability that significantly impaired their capacity (a) to appreciate the nature, consequences, or wrongfulness of their conduct, (b) to exercise rational judgment in relation to conduct; or (c) to conform their conduct to the requirements of the law. A disorder manifested primarily by repeated criminal conduct or attributable solely to the acute effects of voluntary use of alcohol or other drugs does not, standing alone, constitute a mental disorder or disability for purposes of this provision.

Council notes that adoption of the recommendations above is not intended to supersede or alter existing APA policy on the death penalty (e.g., Resolution on the Death Penalty in the United States. Adopted August 2001).

1. August 2001

WHEREAS recent empirical research reviewing all death penalty cases in the United States concluded that two thirds of the death penalty cases from 1973 to 1995 were overturned on appeal with the most common reasons cited as incompetent counsel, inadequate investigative services, or the police and prosecutors withholding exculpatory evidence. (Liebman, Fagan, & West, 2000); and

WHEREAS the recent application of DNA technology has resulted in, as of June 2000, 62 post-conviction determinations of actual innocence, with eight of these having been for persons sentenced to death at trial (Scheck, Neufeld, Weyer, 2000; Wells, Malpass, Lindsay, Fisher, Turtle, & Fulero, 2000); and

WHEREAS research on the process of qualifying jurors for service on death penalty cases shows that jurors who survive the qualification process ("death-qualified jurors") are more conviction-prone than jurors who have reservations about the death penalty and are therefore disqualified from service. (Bersoff, 1987; Cowan, Thompson and Ellsworth, 1984; Ellsworth, 1988; Bersoff & Ogden, 1987; Haney, 1984); and

WHEREAS recent social science research reveals strong inconsistencies in prosecutors' decisions to seek the death penalty in particular cases, based on factors other than the severity of the crime. The "prosecutor is more likely to ask for a death sentence when the victim is European-American, of high social status, a stranger to the offender, and when counsel is appointed" (Beck & Shumsky, 1997, p. 534); and

WHEREAS race and ethnicity have been shown to affect the likelihood of being charged with a capital crime by prosecutors (e.g., Beck & Shumsky, 1997; Bowers, 1983; Paternoster, 1991; Paternoster & Kazyaka, 1988; Sorensen & Wallace, 1995) and therefore of being sentenced to die by the jury. Those who kill European-American victims are more likely to receive the death penalty, even after differences such as the heinousness of the crime, prior convictions, and the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator are considered. This is especially true for African-Americans (e.g., Keil & Vito, 1995; Thomson, 1997) and Hispanic-Americans who kill European-Americans (Thomson, 1997); and

WHEREAS psychological research consistently demonstrates that juries often misunderstand the concept of mitigation and its intended application (e.g., Haney & Lynch, 1994, 1997; Wiener, Pritchard, & Weston, 1995; Wiener, Hurt, Thomas, Sadler, Bauer & Sargent, 1998), so that mitigation factors, e.g., the defendant's previous life circumstances, mental and emotional difficulties and age, have little or no relation to penalty phase verdicts (Beck & Shumsky, 1997; Costanzo & Costanzo, 1994); and

WHEREAS death penalty prosecutions may involve persons with serious mental illness or mental retardation. Procedural problems, such as assessing competency, take on particular importance in cases where the death penalty is applied to such populations (Skeem, Golding, Berge & Cohn, 1998; Rosenfeld & Wall, 1988; Hoge, Poythress, Bonnie, Monahan, Eisenberg & Feucht-Haviar, 1997; Cooper & Grisso, 1997); and

WHEREAS death penalty prosecutions may involve persons under 18 (sometimes as young as 14). Procedural problems, such as assessing competency, take on particular importance in cases where the death penalty is applied to juveniles (Grisso & Schwartz, 2000; Lewis et al., 1988); and

WHEREAS capital punishment appears statistically neither to exert a deterrent effect (e.g., Bailey, 1983; 1990; Bailey & Peterson, 1994; Cheatwood, 1993; Costanzo, 1997; Decker & Kohfeld, 1984; Radelet & Akers, 1996; Stack, 1993) nor save a significant number of lives through the prevention of repeat offenses (Vito, Koester, & Wilson, 1991; Vito, Wilson, & Latessa, 1991); Further, research shows that the murder rate increases just after state-sanctioned executions (Bowers, 1988; Costanzo, 1998; Phillips, 1983; Phillips & Hensley, 1984);

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the American Psychological Association: Calls upon each jurisdiction in the United States that imposes capital punishment not to carry out the death penalty until the jurisdiction implements policies and procedures that can be shown through psychological and other social science research to ameliorate the deficiencies identified above.

References

Bailey, W. C. (1990). Murder, capital punishment, and television execution publicity and homicide rates. American Sociological Review, 55, 628-633.

Bailey, W. C. (1983). Disaggregation in deterrence and death penalty research: The case of murder in Chicago. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 74(3), 827-859.

Bailey, W. C., & Peterson, R.D. (1994). Murder, capital punishment and deterrence: A review of the evidence and an examination of police killings. Journal of Social Issues, 50, 53-74.

Beck, J. C. & Shumsky, R. (1997). A comparison of retained and appointed counsel in cases of capital murder. Law and Human Behavior, 21(5), 525-538.

Bersoff, D.N. (1987). Social science data and the Supreme Court: Lockhart as a case in point. American Psychologist, 42(1), 52-58.

Bersoff, D.N. & Ogden, D.W. (1987). In the Supreme Court of the United States Lockhart v. McCree: amicus curiae brief for the American Psychological Association. American Psychologist, 42 (1), 59-68.

Bowers, W. J. (1983). The pervasiveness of arbitrariness and discrimination under post-Furman capital statutes. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 74(2), 1067-1100.

Bowers, W.J. (1988). The effect of execution is brutalization, not deterrence. In K.C. Haas and J.A. Inciardi (Eds.). Challenging capital punishment: Legal and social science approaches (49-90). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Cheatwood, D. (1993). Capital punishment and the deterrence of violent crime in comparable counties. Criminal Justice Review, 18(2), 165-181. Cooper, D. & Grisso, T. (1997). Five-year research update (1991-1995): Evaluations for competence to stand trial. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 15(3), 347-364.

Costanzo, M. (1997). Just revenge: Costs and consequences of the death penalty. New York: St. Martins Press.

Costanzo, S., & Costanzo, M. (1994). Life or death decisions: An analysis of capital jury decision-making under the special issues framework. Law and Human Behavior, 18, 151-170.

Cowan, C.L. & Thompson, W. & Ellsworth, P. C. (1984). The effects of death qualification on jurors' predisposition to convict and on the quality of deliberation. Law and Human Behavior, 8, 53-80.

Decker, S. H. & Kohfeld, C. W. (1984). A deterrence study of the death penalty in Illinois, 1933-1980. Journal of Criminal Justice, 12, 367-377.

Ellsworth, P.C. (1988). Unpleasant facts: The Supreme Court's response to empirical research on capital punishment. In K.C. Haas and J.A. Inciardi (Eds.). Challenging capital punishment: Legal and social science approaches (177-211). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Grisso, T. & Schwartz, R. G. (Eds.). (2000). Youth on Trial: A Developmental Perspective on Juvenile Justice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Haney, C. (Ed.). (1984). Death qualification [Special issue]. Law and Human Behavior, 8 (1&2).

Haney, C. & Lynch, M. (1997). Clarifying life and death matters: An analysis of instructional comprehension and penalty phase closing arguments, Law and Human Behavior, 21(6), 575-595.

Haney, C. & Lynch, M. (1994). Comprehending life and death matters: A preliminary study of California's capital penalty instructions, Law and Human Behavior, 18, 411-436.

Hoge, S. K., Poythress, N., Bonnie, R. J., Monahan, J., Eisenberg, M. & Feucht-Haviar, T. (1997). The MacArthur adjudicative competence study: Diagnosis, psychopathology, and competence-related abilities. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 15(3), 329-345.

Keil, T. J. & Vito, G. F. (1995). Race and the death penalty in Kentucky murder trials: 1976-1991. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 20(1), 17-36.

Lewis, D.O., Pincus, J.H., Bard B., Richardson, E. , Princher, L.S., Feldman, M. & Yeager, C. (1988). Neuropsychiatric, psychoeducational, and family characteristics of 14 juveniles condemned to death in the United States. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145(5), 584-589.

Liebman, J. S., Fagan, J., & West, V. (2000). A broken system: Error rates in capital cases, 1973-1995. [On-line]. Available: www.TheJusticeProject.org

Paternoster, R. & Kazyaka, A. (1988). Racial considerations in capital punishment: The failure of evenhanded justice. In K. C. Haas & J. A. Inciardi (Eds.), Challenging capital punishment: Legal and social science approaches (pp. 113-148). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Paternoster, R. (1991). Prosecutorial discretion and capital sentencing in North and South Carolina. In R. M. Bohm (Ed.), The death penalty in America: Current research (pp. 39-52). Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.

Phillips, D.P. (1983). The impact of mass media violence in U.S. homicides. American Sociological Review, 48, 560-568.

Phillips, D.P. & Hensley, J.E. (1984). When violence is rewarded or punished: The impact of mass media stories on homicide. Journal of Communication, 34, 101-116.

Radelet, M. L. & Akers, R. L. (1996). Deterrence and the death penalty: The views of the experts. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 87, 1-16.

Rosenfeld, B. & Wall, A. (1998). Psychopathology and competence to stand trial. Criminal Justice & Behavior, 25(4), 443-462.

Scheck, B., Neufeld, P., & Dwyer, W. (2000). Actual innocence. New York: Harper.

Skeem, J. L., Golding, S. L., Berge, G., & Cohn, N. B. (1998). Logic and reliability of evaluations of competence to stand trial. Law & Human Behavior, 22(5), 519-547.

Sorensen, J.R. & Wallace, D.H. (1995). Capital punishment in Missouri: Examining the issue of racial disparity. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 13(1), 61-81.

Stack, S. (1993). Execution publicity and homicide in Georgia. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 18(1), 25-39.

Thomson, E. (1997). Research note: Discrimination and the death penalty in Arizona. Criminal Justice Review, 22(1), 65-76.

Vito, G. F., Koester, P., & Wilson, D. G. (1991). Return of the dead: An update of the status of Furman-commuted death row inmates. In R. M. Bohm (Ed.), The death penalty in America: Current research (pp. 89-99). Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.

Vito, G. F., Wilson, D. G., & Latessa, E. J. (1991). Comparison of the dead: Attributes and outcomes of Furman-commuted death row inmates in Kentucky and Ohio. In R. M. Bohm (Ed.), The death penalty in America: Current research (pp. 101-111). Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.

Wells, G., Malpass, R., Lindsay, R., Fisher, R., Turtle, J., & Fulero, S. (2000). From the lab to the police station: A successful application of eyewitness research. American Psychologist, 55, 581-594.

Wiener, R., Hurt, L., Thomas, S., Sadler, M., Bauer, C., & Sarget, T. (1998). The role of declarative and procedural knowledge in capital murder cases. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28, 124-144.

Wiener, R., Pritchard, C., & Weston, M. (1995). Comprehensibility of approved jury instructions in capital cases. Journal of Applied Psychology, 80, 455-467

IX. DISABILITIES

1. February 1997

Council voted to adopt the following Policy Statement on Full Participation for Psychologists with Disabilities:

WHEREAS at any point in time, over ten percent of the United States population has a visible disability (U.S. Census, 1995); and

WHEREAS attitudes about people with disabilities are often the most significant barrier keeping people with disabilities from performing to their full potential; thereby, depriving society of a very valuable resource pool; and

WHEREAS psychologists with disabilities have been precluded from activities in which other psychologists participate due to a lack of environmental (physical, social, communicative and attitudinal) access; and

WHEREAS the American Psychological Association has historically taken a proactive position in opposition to discrimination against minority groups; and

WHEREAS in 1950, the association passed a resolution that stated that APA would hold its meetings only where there was no discrimination on the basis of race or religion; and

WHEREAS in 1974, APA adopted a resolution condemning discrimination based on social class and further committed itself to working toward the elimination of such barriers to education and employment in psychology; and

WHEREAS in 1975, the American Psychological Association in its support of the ERA stated "...denial of rights to women, as to any other social category is a grave injustice;" and

WHEREAS in 1979, the Council of Representatives established the Association's commitment to full physical and social access at the annual APA convention by adopting the Guidelines on Physical and Social Accessibility; and

WHEREAS the Board of Convention Affairs has reaffirmed its continued commitment to the goals of the APA Guidelines on Physical and Social Accessibility and APA continues to work toward the goal of full convention accessibility; and

WHEREAS Article III.2 of the APA Bylaws specifies that all members shall be treated with respect and without discrimination on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, religion, gender, or sexual orientation, age, mental or physical disability; and

WHEREAS Article III.2 further provides that this does not preclude the Association from fulfilling its obligations to carry out activities or programs that have as their goal the amelioration of conditions that may restrict members from full participation in the Association or its activities and programs; and

WHEREAS APA was involved in the development and the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which forbids discrimination against and requires reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities; and APA is committed to complying with this law; and

WHEREAS each time that the APA has taken the steps necessary to oppose discrimination against and to provide full and appropriate participation in the activities of the association for particular minority groups, the association has grown and benefited from the expanded knowledge base and richness of experience brought to it by members of those groups; and

WHEREAS the American Psychological Association has responded in appropriate and concrete ways to the ongoing and historical obstacles to adequate services for and full participation of ethnic minorities, women and gay men and lesbians; and

WHEREAS there has been a growing recognition of people with disabilities as a minority group; and

WHEREAS APA recognizes that full access and participation for people with disabilities is a civil rights issue.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that APA reaffirms its continued support for full compliance with the provisions and principles of the Americans with Disabilities Act and all other relevant statutes and pledges to meet the reasonable requirements of its members with disabilities when providing the services and benefits to which all members are entitled.

U.S. Department of Commerce. (1995). The statistical abstract of the United States: The national data book (114th edition). Washington, D.C.: Author.

X. DISASTER

1. February 1995

On the recommendation of the Board of Directors, Council approved the following resolution:

WHEREAS children are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of disasters (abrupt, disruptive public events) through their dependence on adults for psychological and physical safety and day-to-day care and their widely varying stages of development;

WHEREAS disasters, both natural and human-made, often lead to devastating psychological effects on the populations impacted;

WHEREAS disasters are increasing sources of human dysfunction (Hurricane Andrew, Midwest floods), as urban areas grow in population and geographic area/spread, as rural areas fall further behind in access to resources, as technology expands the potential for accidents and negative side effects (Three-Mile Island), and as the rise in international terrorism increases the probability that U.S. sites will be targeted (New York's World Trade Center);

WHEREAS formal policies and procedures directed to preventing and treating psychological dysfunction resulting from the impact of disasters on children are absent or minimal in the public and private organizations established to provide relief;

WHEREAS the APA currently has in place collaborative disaster training and intervention activities with some relief organizations (e.g., the Red Cross), and whereas these activities should specifically address children's psychological needs;

WHEREAS the federal government generally has been slow to provide adequate leadership in the development and application of knowledge about child victims of disaster;

WHEREAS disaster relief efforts have sometimes failed to ensure the physical and psychological safety of child disaster victims;

WHEREAS research on the prevention of negative psychological effects and on the treatment of disaster victims has been limited and of varying degrees of methodological soundness -- e.g., lacking in control groups, standard instruments, before and after measures -- and research on children's needs and responses in disasters is particularly scant;

WHEREAS emerging research establishes the acute short-term and serious long-term negative effects of disasters on children's behavior and mental health as well as on that of their families;

WHEREAS the positive impact of selected interventions with children and their families exposed to disasters is beginning to emerge through research;

WHEREAS available research suggests differences related to gender, disability, and family status in children's vulnerability and responses to disasters and many children find ways to cope successfully with a variety of negative situations;

WHEREAS the significance of race and ethnicity in the prevention and treatment of psychological dysfunction in child disaster victims has not been systematically studied;

WHEREAS emerging research suggests that children disadvantaged by known risk factors such as poverty, disability, and abuse may be at higher risk for dysfunctional outcomes as a result of exposure to disaster and may also be disproportionately represented among disaster victims;

WHEREAS the unique features that typify the effects of disasters on children and their families, and on the public institutions that deal with them, create needs for special training of psychologists and other professionals in assessing damage and initiating and evaluating prevention and treatment programs;

WHEREAS the development and application of knowledge about the impact of disasters on children and their families have been impeded by critical shortages of qualified researchers and mental health practitioners specializing in work on the topic;

WHEREAS Section I of APA's Division 12 has published an extensive review of the literature, in which they have (a) reviewed the scientific knowledge about (i) the prevention of negative psychological effects of disaster on children, (ii) treatment of disaster-exposed children, (iii) effects of interventions on disaster-exposed children and their families, (b) identified critical gaps in knowledge about the effects of disasters on children and their families, and (c) suggested initiatives to enhance the state of knowledge in this area;

RESOLVED, that the Council of Representatives of the APA finds and declares that the development and implementation of a national strategy to prevent and treat the psychological dysfunction resulting from exposure of children and their families to disasters is a matter of the highest priority, and supports the establishment of policies to maintain their psychological well-being;

1) authorizes the Association's Committee on Children, Youth, and Families to pursue collaborative efforts with Section I of Division 12, Division 16, the Psychology in the Schools Program in the Practice Directorate, and the Association's Disaster Response Network, in view of these groups' expertise and recent work in this area, and other interested, involved entities within the Association to:

2) Recognizing the interest in the Practice Directorate's Disaster Response Network shown by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration -- the federal agency that works with the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) to ensure that disaster mental health needs are met -- will advocate, in consultation with the Practice Directorate, for FEMA or other federal agencies to support the continuing efforts of the federal agencies to maintain their existing information data bank on disasters and encourages expansion to include available resources.

3) In all activities conducted pursuant to this act, due consideration shall be given to the need for cultural competence and appropriate psychological service delivery and research protocols to serve ethnic minority children and their families.

4) In all activities conducted pursuant to this act, due consideration shall be given to the relation of the needs of children exposed to disasters to other social issues, including the status of children, the status of women, the status of ethnic minorities, the status of lesbian and gay families, the status of refugee and immigrant families, the needs of children with disabilities and or experiencing handicapping conditions, the needs of children suffering from abuse and neglect, the effects of poverty, problems of substance abuse, the welfare of families, and cultural beliefs about violence.

American Psychological Association, Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs. (1990). Guidelines for providers of psychological services to ethnic, linguistic, and culturally diverse populations. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. (Reprinted in the American Psychologist, 48(1), 45-48).

Green, B. (1993). Identifying survivors at risk: Trauma and stressors across events. In J.P. Wilson & B. Raphael (Eds.). International handbook of traumatic stress syndromes (pp. 135-144). New York: Plenum.

Vernberg, E.M., & Vogel, J.M. (1993). Part 2: Interventions with children after disasters. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 22, 485-498.

Vogel, J. M., & Vernberg, E.M. (1993). Part 1: Children's psychological responses to disasters. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 22, 464-484.

Wilson, J.P., & Raphael, B. (Eds.). (1993). International handbook of traumatic stress syndromes. New York: Plenum. September 24, 1994

XI. EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS FOR PSYCHOLOGISTS

1. 1986

Council voted to adopt as APA policy the March 1986 revised "Guidelines for Conditions of Employment by Psychologist". [Appendix N - X.1]

XII. END OF LIFE ISSUES

1. February 2001

Whereas the nature of dying and death has changed across the twentieth century, occurring primarily in an institutional setting rather than at home (Benoliel & Degner, 1995); and

Whereas death has become more frequently the result of chronic illness (Battin, 1996); and

Whereas medicine and technology have evolved to the point where the terminal period can be significantly prolonged (Field & Cassel, 1997); and

Whereas there are many more people living longer with terminal diagnoses and thus having more time to make end-of-life decisions; and

Whereas end-of-life decision-making is complex, involving areas of ethics, religion, medicine, psychology, sociology, economics, the law, public policy, and other fields; and

Whereas the population of the United States is aging, resulting in larger numbers of people who may request psychological support in making end-of-life decisions; and

Whereas in the United States there is significant social stratification related to cultural, ethnic, economic, gender, and religious differences; and

Whereas this diversity in our society leads to an equally diverse range of views regarding end-of-life care and decisions; and

Whereas reasonable, well-informed people starting from different values and priorities concerning what is valuable at the end of life can and do hold different positions regarding end-of-life care and decisions; and

Whereas autonomy is an important guiding principle in the law and in medical, ethical, and psychological aspects of decision-making, but in and of itself is insufficient to capture the full range of complex medical, familial, social, financial, psychological, cultural, spiritual, and legal issues involved in end-of-life decision-making; and

Whereas there is increasing public support for control over end-of-life decisions but this support is weakest among groups who express concerns about being pressured to die (i.e., older adults, people with less education, women, and ethnic minorities) (Blendon, Szalay, & Knox, 1992); and

Whereas in the United States medical end-of-life decisions are made in a context of serious social inequities in access to resources such as basic medical care; and

Whereas some evidence suggests that there are fluctuations in the will to live (Chochinov, Tataryn, Clinch, & Dudgeon, 1999) and in wishes regarding life-sustaining treatments (Weisman, Haas, & Fowler, 1999); and

Whereas pain and clinical depression are frequently under-treated, which can lead to suffering that may result in requests for, or assent to, medical interventions that affect the timing of death (Foley, 1995); and

Whereas more people are aware of the possible benefits to be gained by using psychological services to help them make end-of-life decisions; and

Whereas psychologists have many areas of competence, including assessment, counseling, teaching, consultation, research, and advocacy skills that could potentially contribute to the science of end-of-life care and to the treatment and support of dying persons and their significant others; and

Whereas psychological research on end-of-life issues is limited in comparison with the magnitude of the issue; and

Whereas there have been no systematic efforts to educate psychologists about end-of-life issues; and

Whereas psychologists in clinical practice have not typically been involved in end-of-life decisions to the degree that they could be; and

Whereas psychologists could assume a significant role in helping health care providers to understand and cope with the concerns and needs of dying individuals and their families; and

Whereas psychologists could be instrumental in supporting public education efforts to raise awareness of issues related to dying, death, grief, mourning, and loss;

Therefore, be it resolved that the American Psychological Association, an organization committed to promoting the psychological well-being of individuals across the life span, should redress psychology's historical under-commitment to end-of-life care by actively promoting and supporting psychology's involvement in end-of-life care. In order to advance this involvement, be it further resolved that the American Psychological Association:

Promote and encourage research and training in the area of end-of-life issues within psychology programs at all levels; and

Encourage and promote the development of a research agenda on end-of-life issues; and

Support efforts to increase funding for research associated with end-of-life issues; and

Encourage psychologists to obtain training in the area of ethics as it applies to end-of-life decisions and care; and

Promote and facilitate psychologists' acquisition of competencies with respect to end-of-life issues, including mastery of the literature on dying and death and sensitivity to diversity dimensions that affect end-of-life experiences; and

Encourage practicing psychologists to be aware of their own views about the end of life, including recognizing possible biases about entitlement to resources based on disability status, age, sex, sexual orientation, or ethnicity of the client making end-of-life decisions; and

Encourage psychologists to be especially sensitive to the social and cultural biases which may result in some groups and individuals being perceived by others, and/or being encouraged to perceive themselves, as more expendable and less deserving of continued life (e.g., people with disabilities, women, older adults, people of color, gay men, lesbians, bisexual people, transgendered individuals, and persons who are poor); and

Support interdisciplinary efforts to increase the competency of psychologists and other health care professionals in end-of-life issues; and

Promote quality end-of-life care including palliative care, access to hospice services, support for terminally ill people and family members, accurate assessment of depression and cognitive capabilities of dying persons, and assistance with end-of-life decision-making; and

Advocate for access to, and reimbursement for, professional mental health services for seriously ill individuals and their families; and

Promote and support public policies that provide for the psychosocial services for dying individuals and their families; and

Support psychologists who wish to participate in ethics committees dealing with end-of-life issues; and

Support psychologists as they work cooperatively with caregivers, medical providers, and multidisciplinary teams to enhance understanding of the psychological aspects of dying and death and to improve quality of care for the dying; and

Endorse the following principles on end-of-life care as articulated in the Institute of Medicine Report entitled Approaching Death: Improving Care at the End of Life (Field & Cassel, 1997):

Care for those approaching death is an integral and important part of health care;

Care for those approaching death should involve and respect both patients and those close to them;

Good care at the end of life depends on clinicians with strong interpersonal skills, clinical knowledge, technical proficiency, and respect for individuals, and it should be informed by scientific evidence, values, and personal and professional experience;

Battin, M. P. (1996). The death debate: Ethical issues in suicide (pp. 175-203). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Benoliel, J .0. & Degner, L. F. (11995) Institutional dying: A convergence of cultural values, technology, and social organization. In H. Wass & R. A. Neimeyer (Eds.) Dying: Facing the facts (pp. 117-141). Washington, DC: Taylor and Francis.

Blendon, R. J., Szalay, U. S., & Knox, R. A. (1992). Should physicians aid their patients in dying? The public perspective. Journal of the American Medical Association, 267, 2658-2662.

Chochinov, H. M., Tataryn, D., Clinch, J. J., & Dudgeon, D. (1999). Will to live in the terminally ill. Lancet, 354, 816-819.

Field, M. J., & Cassel, C. K. (Eds.). (1997). Approaching death: Improving care at the end-of-life. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Foley, K. M. (1995). Pain, physician-assisted suicide, and euthanasia. Pain Forum, 4, 63-178.

Weisman, J. S., Haas, J. S., & Fowler, F. J. (1999). The stability of preferences for life sustaining care among persons with AIDS in the Boston Health Study. Medical Decision Making, 19, 16-26.

XIII. FIREARMS

1. 1982

The American Psychological Association (1) calls upon the President of the United States to propose to the U.S.S.R. that together both countries negotiate an immediate halt to the nuclear arms race. Specifically, we call upon each country to adopt an immediate mutual freeze on all further testing, production, and deployment of all nuclear warheads, missiles, and delivery systems; and (2) calls upon the Administration and Congress to transfer the funds saved to civilian use. Concurrently, they should work jointly with labor, management, and local communities to develop plans to convert the nuclear arms industry to civilian production, thus protecting jobs and strengthening our national economy. We hereby call upon elected officials at local, state, and federal levels publicly to endorse this resolution.

2. August 1994

On the recommendation of the Board of Directors and the Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest, Council voted to adopt the following resolution as APA policy (in addition to, not as a replacement for, the 1982 resolution on handgun control):

WHEREAS the American Psychological Association deplores the increase in violence and its negative effects on children and youth who are victims, perpetrators, bystanders, and witnesses of violent incidents;

WHEREAS the negative effects of violence extend to indirect victims whose lives are affected by losses, anxiety, and terror even if they do not have firsthand experience with violent incidents;

WHEREAS the psychological research on factors that contribute to human aggression indicates that exposure and access to guns can result in an increased likelihood of aggression;

WHEREAS access to firearms as well as their presence and use fosters anxieties, fears, distrust, and suspicion among people;

WHEREAS access to and use of firearms by young people is associated with increased rates of suicide, homicide, and injury among children and youth;

WHEREAS the presence of firearms markedly increases the probability of fatality and severe injury in interpersonal violence;

WHEREAS access to firearms by children and youth contributes to unintentional injury and death;

WHEREAS children's exposure to the consequences of firearm injury and death is associated with increased symptoms of fear, anxiety, depression, and stress;